I enjoy reading inspiring stories about people with hearing loss, especially tales like the one in Ephphatha, a new book by Dr. Thomas Caulfield. The book shares the courageous journey of his son Christopher, born profoundly deaf, and his struggles to combat and overcome this disability through much of his young life. There were many ups and downs, but through hard work, cochlear implant (CI) technology, perseverance and tremendous familial support, Christopher matures into an intelligent, kind, and purposeful man. It is uplifting to go on this adventure with him.

Today, Christopher Caulfield is a tremendous advocate for the disability community, including people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Regular readers of this blog might remember him as one of the Cornell Tech students working on captioning glasses that I discuss in a prior post. This summer, Christopher will be joining Microsoft as a Program Manager within the Cloud and Artificial Intelligence group. Over time, he hopes to get involved in Microsoft’s accessibility initiatives for people with hearing loss.

The e-book shares my personal hearing loss journey, examines some of my experiences with audiologists over the years, and lays out my formula for person-centered care from the patient perspective. It also provides suggestions for how audiologists can incorporate each component into their daily interactions with patients.

Katherine Bouton’s latest book, Smart Hearing — Strategies, Skills and Resources for Living Better with Hearing Loss, is just that — an excellent guide to living a better life with hearing loss. Using personal anecdotes and containing extensive research on assistive listening devices, the book provides a road map for people at all stages of their hearing loss journey. If you think you may have hearing loss, or know you do, this book is required reading.

From time to time, I like to read books about hearing loss. It is important to stay up to date on current information and trends, and also interesting to see others’ perspectives on hearing loss or tinnitus. When I find a good one, I hope to share it with my readers. Katherine Bouton’s Living Better With Hearing Loss is one such book. It is a treasure trove of detailed information on the ins and outs of hearing aids, hearing loops, cochlear implants, tips for traveling with hearing loss, tips for coping with hearing loss on the job, and even with dating. There is also an extensive glossary and resource guide at the end for people interested in learning more. It is a great reference tool for anyone with hearing loss, whether you are new to it or a seasoned veteran.

I love reading other hearing loss blogs. It helps me feel connected to the hearing loss community and to feel less alone with my own hearing loss. I hope reading my blog helps you feel that way. One of my favorite hearing loss blogs is The Better Hearing Consumer written by Gael Hannan. You can see my guest post on her blog here. So when I saw she had a new book published, I couldn’t wait to read it. I was not disappointed.